Chapter 14: Believe It or Not, I’ll Really Put a Collar on You

The feeling of having a fever was awful.

His body and limbs were weak, his head heavy, his consciousness drifting and scattered, repeatedly falling into bizarre and fantastical dreams.

The dream was shrouded in eerie darkness, with only a dim light in front of him.

And in the boundless darkness behind him, a terrifyingly large beast was giving chase.

Dongri smelled the beast’s scent.

It carried a heavy pressure, as well as an undeniable, extremely alarming threat to take his life.

He was very scared and terrified.

He could only desperately move his legs, running forward without stopping.

But no matter how he ran, he couldn’t escape the darkness, and the beast’s scent always surrounded him, as if entangled in inescapable spider silk.

He ran for a very long time, until he was panting and covered in sweat, but he still couldn’t escape this darkness, let alone shake off the terrifying beast hidden within it.

Dongri was so exhausted that he wanted to give up struggling and just let the beast eat him.

But as soon as he stopped, a flurry of frantic urgency surged from the bottom of his heart, as if something was warning and urging him not to stop, but to keep running forward.

His own body was actually in conflict with his thoughts.

Dongri instinctively rejected this feeling.

So he stubbornly stopped in place, refusing to move another step.

Who knew that the sense of urgency in his heart would become stronger and stronger, and gradually transform into a kind of “consciousness”—but not his own “consciousness,” but some independent, invasive “consciousness.”

The “consciousness” realized that urging him was pointless and that Dongri truly didn’t want to move forward anymore, so it sought to separate from his body and began running around aimlessly.

When it ran to his head, Dongri felt a headache.

When it moved to his limbs, Dongri immediately felt weakness in his arms and legs.

Finally, when his whole body had been run through, Dongri felt uncomfortable all over, with no comfortable place to be found.

But the “consciousness” still couldn’t get out of his body.

And as Dongri grew weaker, the “consciousness” also began to weaken.

There was an indescribable, subtle feeling.

It was as if his body had sealed the “consciousness,” but it also felt as if his body was being controlled by the “consciousness.”

In short, they couldn’t separate from each other, becoming a strange symbiotic relationship.

Dongri could feel the “consciousness'” panic at being unable to escape, and he could also feel the “consciousness'” fear of the dark beast.

Too many heavy emotions overlapped, tightly binding him, almost suppressing his breathing, making him feel unbearably uncomfortable.

So tired, he really couldn’t run anymore.

But the darkness was so frightening, and the beast’s scent was even more so.

What to do—

What to do, what to do—

He was suffocating.

His entire body ached, and his limbs were completely immobile. Was he going to die in this dream—?

“…Riri? Riri?”

“…Baobao? Wake up? Baobao?”

Finally breaking free from this oppressive and despairing dream, inhaling fresh oxygen, Dongri opened his heavy eyelids, and the first thing he saw was Yin Tian’s fierce, stinky face.

It was like the beast in the darkness had come into the light.

And he was still surrounded by the beast’s scent from the dream, a fear from the bottom of his heart rushing to the top of his head.

Dongri cried out in terror: “—Ah! No, don’t eat me!”

While tightly closing his eyes, his small body curled into a ball, shivering pitifully.

Yin Tian: “…”

What did he do, may I ask?

He didn’t do anything, right? He was just quietly guarding beside him, clearly still worried about the child, right?

Huh?

Is this how the child repays him?

He could foresee a scene of unfilial piety after he grows up, as expected, he should swallow him in one bite after he fattens up a bit.

Dong Mian didn’t have time to care about the demoralized great demon, and gently patted the little guy’s back: “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, Baobao isn’t afraid… Did you have a nightmare? Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, you’re awake now, Papa is here…”

The little guy had been running a high fever and had nightmares in between.

He twisted and turned in bed, occasionally muttering a few words. His breathing was very rapid, as if his trachea were blocked, and he was about to run out of breath with the next breath.

It was worrying and heartbreaking.

Such a delicate and fragile body, yet enduring great pain—Dong Mian wanted to relieve him of some of it, but he couldn’t do anything.

The only thing he could do was wake him up from the nightmare.

As a result, the sleepy little guy saw Yin Tian and was scared again.

Even more pitiful.

“It’s okay, it’s okay… Baobao is okay, look, it’s Daddy… How could Daddy eat you, right?”

Yin Tian: [Will eat, I can swallow him in one bite right now]

Dong Mian: [Shut your mouth!]

Dong Mian: [I don’t even want to talk about your face, don’t get so close to the child in the future.]

Yin Tian: …

Dongri heard Dong Mian’s voice and gradually began to wake up.

It’s just that his mouth was still muddled, and he said pitifully: “Woo… don’t eat Baobao, Baobao is not delicious!”

Dong Mian couldn’t help but smile again.

How did this little guy manage to be so pitiful and so cute at the same time?

“Won’t eat Baobao, no one wants to eat Baobao… Okay, okay, don’t be afraid, it’s okay…”

After patiently coaxing him for a while, Dongri finally woke up completely.

After all, it was a double whammy of nightmares and fever, and he felt he was very brave for holding back his tears.

“…Pa, Papa?”

“Yeah, it’s Papa.” Dong Mian touched his cheek. “Did you have a nightmare just now?”

“…”

Recalling the endless darkness in the dream and the giant beast that was always lurking in it, Dongri still felt scared, as if the beast’s scent was still lingering around him, having been brought directly from the dream into reality.

Ignoring Dong Mian’s warning, Yin Tian insisted on getting close to Dongri: “What did you dream about just now? You were crying so pitifully. Did Daddy eat you in the dream?”

Dong Mian glared at him and quickly reached out to push him away: “Our Baobao didn’t do it on purpose; he just wasn’t fully awake just now, and his body is not feeling well, right?”

Dongri was still slowly reacting.

If he had only listened to what Yin Tian said, he would have thought that he had done something wrong, and he could only feel relieved after Dong Mian explained it to him.

Trying hard to nod his heavy little head, Dongri opened his mouth to explain: “…I, I didn’t, do it on purpose… It’s true, there was a big monster, chasing me…”

“I, run, run, run… big monster, chase, chase, chase… I was very scared, I didn’t want, to be eaten…”

A childish nightmare.

Adults can’t imagine the scene in the dream, so naturally, they can’t understand this kind of fear.

Only a genuine concern but superficial comfort: “It’s okay now… Baobao is already awake. There are no big monsters when you wake up. Papa will protect you.”

Dongri looked at Dong Mian and nodded very trustingly.

After nodding, he glanced at Yin Tian again, his eyes with a subtle vigilance and suspicion.

Then he didn’t say anything, just silently pulled up the quilt, covering all the parts below his eyes.

Yin Tian: ???

The last time was enough to make the great demon feel bad, but he didn’t expect there was another time waiting for him here.

Yin Tian: [This kid seems to be implying something about me? Did you see the look in his eyes?]

Dong Mian: …

The cub’s eyes were so obvious, of course, he noticed it too.

Although he didn’t think it was an implication, the fear and suspicion in his eyes were real.

But could Dong Mian admit it?

Thinking about the negligible father-son relationship between them, of course not.

Dong Mian: [It’s your illusion, right?]

Yin Tian: [? Is this my illusion? Didn’t you see that he deliberately pulled up the quilt?]

Dong Mian wanted to insist that it was because the child had a fever, and it was normal for his body to feel hot and cold.

But just before he was about to talk nonsense like this, the nurse walked into the ward, preparing to give Dongri an injection.

In fact, he had his blood drawn and received an injection on the day he came to the hospital. However, at that time, Dongri was unconscious, and he had no prior experience.

Today was the first time he had an injection in a conscious state, and ignorance is bliss. The little guy hadn’t realized what was waiting for him next.

He only knew that one of his hands was being fiddled with by the nurse, and the nurse also praised him for being very brave and amazing.

His head was dizzy, but it didn’t prevent the little guy from enjoying this praise. Even though he didn’t know why he received it, he just accepted it all.

Until the needle pierced his skin, the sharp pain immediately spread throughout his body.

“Aww, aww, aww—woo, woo, woo—wah, wah, wah—”

Dongri burst into tears on the spot.

The nightmare didn’t scare him to cry, but one injection made him honest immediately.

“Woo, woo, wah, wah, wah—”

Fortunately, he was crying, but his arm didn’t move around, otherwise the needle would slip, and he would have to get another injection.

“Okay, okay, it’s over, don’t cry, don’t cry.”

Dong Mian was worried that the little guy would move around, so he quickly fixed his arm and then hugged him close.

A second ago, he was still thinking, so the little guy was brave, showing no fear in the face of injections, and he could still keep a straight face.

The truth was that he didn’t react.

After raising the cub for two months, despite not having completed the necessary tasks, his patience has significantly improved.

While Dong Mian was coaxing him softly, he released a calming spell to help the little guy calm down.

Fortunately, this kind of spell still worked, and Dongri’s crying quickly stopped.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Until Yin Tian suddenly laughed, laughing a little inexplicably.

Dong Mian subconsciously raised his eyes to look at him, and at the exact second, the great demon’s voice broke into his mind.

Yin Tian: [You’re such a good wife.]

Dong Mian: …

He regretted looking up at him so much.

He shouldn’t have been curious about the great demon’s behavior.

Dong Mian closed his eyes in despair, silently took a deep breath to adjust his emotions, and didn’t want to pay attention to him at all.

But the great demon didn’t let him go.

Yin Tian: [Do you know this word? I learned it a few days ago, it means—]

Dong Mian: …

Dong Mian: [Shut up, shut up, shut up, you shut up]

Damn telepathic communication.

Although he could avoid others and engage in secret communication, Dong Mian couldn’t stand Yin Tian using it as a harassment weapon.

Dong Mian: [Believe it or not, I’ll strangle you to death?]

Yin Tian: [Like the other day?]

Dong Mian remembered that night when he spoke very rudely, not only strangled his neck but also called Yin Tian a watchdog and told him to get lost—

Judging from Yin Tian’s reaction afterwards, he was also irritated and unhappy by those words.

Dong Mian: [Of course, it will be more excessive than that.]

Dong Mian: [Believe it or not, I’ll really put a collar on you.]

Yin Tian: [Okay.]

Unexpectedly, the great demon agreed very readily.

Yin Tian: [If you like to play like this, I will cooperate very well.]

Dong Mian: …